OFC4: Organic conversion – horticultural land

No substantive changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version). There have only been minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions.

This action’s aim is that horticultural land used to produce vegetables or salad crops is converted from conventional management to organic management.

The purpose of this is to increase the overall area of land registered and managed as organic.

What you must do

You must:

• follow the organic conversion plan for the land entered into this action and associated livestock, as approved and signed off by your organic control body
• comply with organic standards on land entered into this action from the start of organic conversion period until this action’s end date
• complete organic conversion and register the land entered into this action as ‘fully organic’ before this action’s end date

When to do it

You must do this action from its start date, throughout each year of this action’s duration until the land is registered as ‘fully organic’.

Where you can do it

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:

• registered as ‘in conversion’ with a Defra-licensed organic control body
• used to grow at least 1 horticultural crop in each land parcel entered into this action
• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information)
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Land is not eligible for this action if you’ve previously:

• registered it with an organic control body
• received organic conversion aid or funding for it

Rotational or static

For non-permanent horticultural crops grown on arable land this action is rotational. This means for the second year of organic conversion you can either:

• move its location
• do it at the same location

For permanent horticultural crops, this action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep:

• a copy of the organic conversion plan approved and signed off by your organic control body
• a valid organic certificate and schedule for all land entered into this action – this must cover at least the full period of this action’s duration

You must supply this evidence if we ask for it.